A brief tale of relative value: SAP vs HP

Tom Paine
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On November 1, 2010, Léo Apotheker, who had been deposed as CEO of SAP earlier in the year on Superbowl Sunday, became CEO of HP. At the time HP's market value was in the $100 billion range, while SAP's was around $60 billion. Some gave thought to the idea that HP should try to acquire SAP (or achieve a merger of virtual equals between the two). Apotheker did move on one large acquisition, as HP announced in August 2011 it would acquire Autonomy for a price that would end up being $11.1 billion. Although Apotheker would be removed as CEO a month later, under successor Meg Whitman (who was on HP's board when the deal was first approved) the Autonomy acquisition was completed.

What a difference two years make. Today HP's market value after the apparent Autonomy debacle is $24.4 billion, although its bounced back some since the Autonomy news broke, and SAP's is $91.9 billion. And I doubt anyone in Walldorf is thinking about snapping up HP, although there might be some small pieces they might look at in a possible breakup scenario.






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